Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Cream Cheese Filling

Oh my dear reader friends. Does that not just put a SMILE on your FACE! I had such a fun time making these, I didn’t even mind the mess it made of my kitchen. I didn’t even grumble when I looked up and saw my entire counter top riddled with paint, brushes, cups of water, hot glue guns, and wooden hearts. No, I did not paint these. However my children had a grand old time painting little wooden hearts while I worked on these babies. Yes, even the three year olds.

There is nothing like a cheerful red strawberry to put a smile on your face in the dead of winter. Unless it’s dipped in chocolate. Then my friends, there is smiling AND eyes rolling back in the head. Pipe a little cream cheese filling into these beauties…..and I’m not sure you’ll be able to make dinner tonight. Just eat these instead. Isn’t it almost Valentines Day or something? Don’t you have a HUNK OF BURNING LOVE just waiting to get a delectable treat like this one? I thought so……

1 bag milk chocolate chips (I find Nestle’s to be the best for milk chocolate)

1/4 bag white chocolate chips

shortening

wax paper

Filling:

1 1/2 T white chocolate chips

6 T powdered sugar

1/2 block cream cheese

1 T milk

1/2 t vanilla

3/4 C cool whip

dash salt

1. In a small mixing bowl beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk vanilla and salt together with a hand mixer. (Or in your stand mixer)

2. In a small bowl microwave 1 1/2 T white chocolate for 30 seconds. Stir the chips with a spoon and microwave for 30 more seconds. Stir again. It should be melted and nice and smooth.

3. Add the melted chocolate to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.

4. Add the cool whip and mix until smooth and creamy.

5. Take a sharp toothpick and jab it repeatedly into the center top of the strawberry, until the center can be pulled out.

6. See how the center has been taken out? Just lovely. I find that I really have to work the toothpick around in a circle inside the strawberry to hollow out as much as possible. Otherwise you won’t be able to fit much filling.

7. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag. Pipe the filling into the strawberries.

8. Don’t they look pretty! That is a cheerful site if I have ever seen one! Be careful not to let too much filling show on the green. Once you dip the strawberries it will get kind of messy.

9. Put the bag of chocolate chips in a glass measuring cup. These work well because they are fairly deep and not too wide. Melt the chocolate chips for 30 seconds in the microwave and then stir. You will most likely have to do this 2-3 times, depending on the power of your microwave. See in the picture how some of the chips are still holding their shape? You can also see that as soon as I started to stir it they melted nicely. You want to be careful not to get the chocolate too hot. It will start to get all chalky on you….that won’t make pretty berries, folks. Add 1/2 t of shortening and stir it in.

10. Hold each berry by the green stem carefully. Dip it in the chocolate, tilting it to each side so the chocolate gets all around it. Place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.

13. Place the cookie sheet in your freezer for about 6 minutes. The chocolate should set up in this much time. Be careful not to let them stay in for more than about 15 minutes. They will start to freeze, and you don’t want that!

14. Enjoy! These beauties will last for several hours in the fridge, but not much longer than that. They are meant to be eaten soon after they are made.

Mommys Kitchen,I wish that I could fit more filling inside. It kind of depends on the berry. I would try using a shish kabob skewer next time and see if I can hollow out a bit more of the berry. The filling is so fabulous! Ever bite you can get with the filling is heavenly….

I actually tried this. I am really impressed by you. I used a skewer and could not get hardly ANY filling inside. I fancy myself quite a cook but NOTHING compared to you. Mine just didn't look like yours You are awesome. Love your recipes.

Kira,I bet your strawberries still tasted wonderful! Some of the berries I dipped were hard to get the filling inside as well. I think some berries are just more hollow than others. I wish I knew away to get more filling inside…it tastes so darn good!Hope you have success with the Macaroni Grill Bread. We really love it around here.I have a couple of other recipes that use fresh rosemary Glazed Carrots and Healthy Chicken Salad….if you have some rosemary left over. Rosemary also freezes really well if you just put it in a zip loc bag.I have heard about the Bountiful Produce Co-op. One of my sisters participates in it. I'll have to check it out.I belong to a produce co-op here in Herriman with some of my neighbors that works well, too. We get our produce from a company called A & Z Produce.Thanks for your comments, Kira. Have a great night!~Jamie

Have always made chocolate dipped strawberries, but never tried a filling. I doubled the recipe for the filling and served it on the side as well. It was amazing!! I would recommend the filling as a dip for any kind of fruit. Thanks for the recipe!

Anonymous,Thanks so much for letting me know that they turned out well. What a good idea to serve the filling on the side as well…then you can have as much as you would like. It is super tasty isn't it!~Jamie

I use a straw to hull (?) strawberries….maybe this would work to get more filling in? I haven't tried these YET but it's a good idea. Just line up the straw over the stem and shove in in. WHen you pull the straw out, the hull is inside the straw. Give it a try!

These are awesome! I am making them right now using a regular plastic drinking straw to hollow out the middles. It seems to make just the right size hole and it punches right through, so you just squeeze out of the straw what it removes. On the huge berries, I went through the same hole in the top in two directions down (V-shape) to get more in there. Your filling recipe sounds good too, but I just made cookies with cream cheese icing and am using what was left over to fill mine.

Jamie, just want you to know you save me with these instructions every year. I just dip the strawberries, I don’t fill them – but for the life of me I can never remember how to do it (since I only do it once a year) and always turn to this post for help. My husband is the bishop of our ward and so late the night before Mother’s Day I spend several hours dipping strawberries for the all the wonderful women in our congregation (he also has roses for them too that the YM pass out). Anyhow – I couldn’t do it without you! Thanks!